Fox Boss Talks Future of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, 24, and WAYWARD PINES, SLEEPY HOLLOW’s Move, and More

After Fox’s executive session, Gary Newman, the co-Chairman and CEO of the Fox Television Group, spoke with reporters to expand on what’s going on with SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, PRISON BREAK, 24, and more…

PRISON BREAK:

Though PRISON BREAK has yet to be officially picked up, Newman shared he thought it would be possible to start shooting the show by early 2016.

“In theory, it could be ready for summer, but it may be something we want to hold for the 16-17 broadcast season,” Newman shared.

24:

It seems 24 might have another life on Fox.

“[24 is] still in development, they’re working on the script,” Newman said. “We actually haven’t seen the script yet. It’s Manny [Coto] and Evan [Catz] writing it, with Howard Gordon supervising it. I hope we’ll see [the script] in about a month’s time.”

But, alas, it won’t include a return for Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer.

“No Jack, new person at the center,” Newman said. “Obviously we would love to have Kiefer back; we went to him first, it’s not something he wants to do at this point, but he encouraged us to continue and find a way to bring the show back…we’re hoping the script is going to live up to expectations.”

And it seems possible that 24’s revival will be built around all new characters.

“Honestly, I don’t know whether we’ll see any old characters or not. It would not surprise me if it’s a total reset in terms of characters.”

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE:

SYTYCD just celebrated its 10th anniversary, and Newman indicated he was happy with the show’s tweaks this season, and is hopeful it will continue on.

“We were really happy with that show this summer; we think the new format of Street vs. Stage gave the show new energy,” he said. “Our new judges Paula [Abdul] and Jason [Derulo] did great…so we were happy with it. I’m sure we’ll be talking about it, soon. I’m not at all ready to say we’ve come to an end of that series, and we need to plan a farewell.”

WAYWARD PINES:

There are indeed early talks to bring back WAYWARD PINES…but it’ll be without showrunner Chad Hodge.

“Part of that timetable [for a return] will be involved with [WAYWARD PINES executive producer M.] Night [Shymalan] and [WAYWARD PINES author] Blake [Crouch]’s [schedule]…Chad [Hodge] won’t be involved,” Newman said. “We’re waiting to hear a pitch from them…we need a new showrunner. I know Night has someone in mind, that he’s not prepared to announce yet. In an ideal world, we would be making that decision relatively soon. Ideally, we’d like to bring it back right where we had it this year. It really had a pretty great season.”

SLEEPY HOLLOW/BONES:

With SLEEPY HOLLOW on the move, Newman acknowledged its new night is a difficult one.

“Thursday is a very tough night,” he said. “I think that both BONES and SLEEPY, given the age of the shows, there’s going to be a lot of delayed viewing. So our live expectations are not high. Our 30-day [ratings], we do have some pretty good expectations. And the good thing is we’re getting better and btter about monetizing [that].”

And they’ll be swinging big with the upcoming BONES/SLEEPY HOLLOW crossover, a stunt Newman thinks the audience will accept.

“You have to take swings and try things,” he said. “When you see the love the shows get, I think the audience is prepared to work with it. And, of course, BONES will end up with a grounded explanation for what happens in that show, and SLEEPY HOLLOW will be more fantastical.”

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